Voice Thread

Looking back over the Tech Tools in Use presentations of this semester (it's hard to believe that we're already well into November!!), I would like to thank all of my fellow members of the Blue Cohort for the time and energy you put into your presentations! One thing about our program that I have appreciated from the beginning is that we get to learn from each other's learning experiences! These Tech Tools presentations are a good example of this! I didn't have to spend the time finding, researching and tackling a variety of tools- my classmates shared their knowledge and effort with me and I with them! Awesome!

 I think that the tool I could most readily make use of is Voice Thread. This Web 2.0 tool allows for easy creation of slideshows, which can be edited, annotated and scribbled all over... I love doodling...

More to the point, however, I like that Voice Thread is so adaptable for many different content areas! I can see it having utility in a chemistry classroom as well as a math classroom if my future placement asks me to take on courses in their math department. For chemistry, students could annotate and comment on the strength of a lab report's abstract. Students could also design a presentation on a particularly challenging topic, which could be archived on the class' website. The student presenters would (hopefully) gain deeper insight into the concept as they work to articulate it to others. Additionally, their classmates and future chemistry enthusiasts would have access to their work and be able to learn about the concept from their peers in addition to their teacher!

   Another important feature of VT that I really appreciate is that it's EASY to use. It's an accessible tool for teachers, as well as for students. Want to record an explanation of a concept or introduce your presentation? You can just press a button and have it record your voice in conjunction with an uploaded video or picture. Don't like how that recording went? Just trash it and begin another recording. Another nice feature is that people, who want to respond to a presentation slide, can also easily record their voice or post a comment and/or picture. 

  Drawbacks come into play when you look at VT's free version file limit. Being allowed only a few presentations at a time is a definite con. This limit inhibits students and teachers' access to enduring files, which would decrease the possibility of future students benefiting from your students' work. If this tool becomes a regular part of my teaching, then I would seriously consider paying the costs to get more storage. For now, it will be fun to play with this tool in my MT's classroom and to gauge how well student learning is supported by this visual and interactive tool. 

Thanks again to everyone who presented tech tools this term!